Band saw machine

ABSTRACT

A band saw machine is provided with a cutting head that carries the endless saw blade. The cutting head can be swung from a vertical cutting plane into a horizontal cutting plane. Limits can be made in the feeding stroke of the cut and the return travel. A workpiece feeding and clamping vice is rotated about a horizontal axis. The combined positioning capability of the band saw blade and the workpiece vice allows difficult compound angular cuts to be made in the workpiece. The endless run of the blade is angled upwardly and outwardly away from the workpiece to provide additional clearance for cutting deep workpieces. Powered feed rolls advance the workpiece against a gauging stop to determine a predetermined length to be cut. The vice is then closed to hold the workpiece during cutting. Supplemental supports hold the rearward end of the workpiece during feeding and cutting. Blade guides are spaced for accomodating both small and large width blades.

This is a division, of application Ser. No. 825,703, filed Aug. 18, 1977now U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,912.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention pertains to band saw machines and more particularly tomachines for cutting difficult compound angle cuts repeatedly fromworkpieces.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Band saw machines have heretofore been limited to cutting at 90° throughworkpieces or limited to highly complicated mechanisms if a compoundangular cut was required. In addition, in general, only extremelysophisticated automated band saw machines were capable of providing anyform of automatic feeding of the workpiece where multiple workpieces ofthe same length were desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide an easily manipulated bandsaw machine capable of making compound angular cuts in a workpiece.

It is another object of this invention to provide a band saw machinecapable of cutting both in a horizontal and a vertical plane as well asall angles in between.

It is another object of this invention to provide a workpiece feedingand clamping vice which will advance a workpiece automatically and stopthe workpiece at a predetermined position for repeatedly cutting thesame length parts from a workpiece.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a vice which canbe pivoted in relationship to the angular alignment of the band sawblade for providing compound angular cuts in a workpiece.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a band saw bladeguide mechanism which can accomodate blades of various widths.

Basically these objects are obtained in various features of the band sawmachine. The total combination of features, in addition, provides aunique highly versitile band saw machine capable of performing numerousfunctions heretofore available only through multiple machines. Such amachine is extremely desirable for use in machine shops where difficultcompound angular cuts are required in multiple pieces but where theultimate repeatability of the cut pieces is insufficient to warrantextremely expensive and complicated automatic cutoff machines. The bandsaw can also be used as a standard vertically travelling saw with theaddition of a table attachment for customary cutting work. The machinecan make standard vertical cuts for use as a bar cutoff machine. Stillfurther, however, the machine can be used uniquely for making any formof partial or through compound angular cut. With the unique self-feedingand clamping vice an elongated workpiece can be advanced automaticallyto a predetermined stop or gauge position for repeating several cuts ofthe same length. The feeding and cutting can be totally automaticallycontrolled such that the operator need only insert the workpiece intothe vice and feeding and cutting repeatedly will be performedautomatically. Alternatively, the machine can be operated manually or inbetween modes of fully automated and fully manually. Since is desirablefrequently to change the size of the blade in the saw the unique bladeguides reduce the amount of time necessary to make a changeover sincethe blades accommodate various sizes of saw blades.

Basically the compound angular cuts are accomplished by mounting the sawblade in a cutting head which can pivot firstly through a plane parallelto the cutting plane of the blade for making the cut but which can alsopivot the cutting blade plane from vertical to any angle to thehorizontal. This can be accomplished hydraulically or manually withgreat ease. The workpiece vice is also mounted for pivotal action abouta horizontal axis so that it can present the workpiece at an angle toany of the saw blade cutting planes between horizontal and vertical.This provides the availability of making compound angular cuts. The cutscan be terminated either automatically by stops built into the controlof the machine or manually. The return travel of the blade can also belimited automatically so that production rate can be increased byeliminating unnecessary travel time.

Basically the unique vice for clamping and feeding the workpieceincludes a pair of opposed clamping surfaces and a set of drivenworkpiece driving rolls. The rolls are spring biased inwardly of theworkpiece clamping surfaces so that they engage the workpiece in advanceof the surfaces. Supplementary rollers are provided above and below theworkpiece to the rear of the vice for supporting the rearward end of theworkpiece as it is being advanced. In addition, spacers can be placed inthe vice for raising the elevation of the workpiece in the vice forcutting workpieces of a thin depth. The supplementary rollers at therear of the vice are also adjustable to maintain alignment with thespacers. The clamping surfaces can be adjusted on a rough basis forvarious size workpieces and finally after advancing the workpiece theclamping surfaces are automatically brought tightly together against theworkpiece for holding the workpiece during cutting. The workpiece can bemoved and automatically abutted against an end gauge which is set at apredetermined position to bring the advanced workpiece to its positionnecessary for the desired cutting length. The vice uniquely rotatesabout a forward end of one of the clamping surfaces so that it can beswung rearwardly to avoid interference between the opposite workpiececlamping surface and the saw blade. The plane of the complete run of thesaw blade is also angled forwardly and upwardly from the vice so thatits non-cutting return run does not interfere with the vice or theworkpiece. For short parts to be cut off, for example, the return runwill miss the end of the cutoff part allowing extremely deep workpiecesto be cut.

The blade guides are adjustable along the cutting run of the saw bladefor various parts and also are provided with different size recesses toaccommodate saw blades of different thicknesses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a band saw machine embodying the principlesof the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the band saw machine looking in at the frontof the machine.

FIG. 3 is a perspective of a vice forming a part of the machine and asviewed from the rear of the vice.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the band saw machine.

FIG. 5 is an end elevation of the band saw machine.

FIG. 6 is a top plan of the band saw machine.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the cutting head of the machine lookingfrom the same direction as FIG. 5, namely an end view, illustrating theangular positioning of the band saw blade from vertical cutting plane toa horizontal cutting plane.

FIG. 8 is a schematic illustration of the vice showing its pivotalorientation about a vertical axis and in relation to the cutting planeof the saw blade.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary horizontal section of the vice shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of the drive for the workpieceadvancing rollers shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary isometric of a workpiece gauge or feed stopembodying the principles of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a section taken along line 12--12 of the band saw guide shownin FIG. 13.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary front elevation of a unique band saw guide.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The band saw machine as best shown in FIG. 1 includes a cutting head 10which carries a conventional endless band saw blade 12. The head 10 ispivotally mounted about an axis C for moving the blade 12 through thework at a cutting station CS. The cutting head is pivotally mounted alsoabout an axis B for pivoting the entire head from the vertical cuttingposition as shown in FIG. 1 to a horizontal cutting position as shown inphantom lines in FIG. 7. The pivot axis B is fixed on a base 14. Thebase 14 also supports a workpiece clamping and advancing vice 16. Workheld in the vice 16 is advanced into the cutting station CS and the bandsaw stroked about the axis C to cut pieces from the workpiece.

CUTTING HEAD

The cutting head 10 includes a pair of guide wheels 18 and 19 (FIG. 6)over which the saw blade 12 is entrained. The distance between thewheels can be adjusted for tensioning the belt by a conventionaladjustment 20. The structure supporting the wheels 18 and 19 is joinedby a bar 22 on which are slidably mounted a pair of blade guides 24. Theblade guides are adjustable relative to one another for supporting theblade in close proximity to the workpieces of various sizes. The bladeguides each have a clamp screw 26 which rides in a track 27 for lockingthe guide in its set position. As is well understood the portion of theblade 12 in the cutting station CS will be at an angle from the plane ofthe blade as it passes over the wheels as is conventional practice.

It is a unique feature of this machine that the plane of the endlessblade as determined by the two guide wheels 18 and 19 extends forwardlyand upwardly of the vice 16 in the direction of work advance asindicated by the arrow F in FIG. 5. This provides the advantage that forshort parts to be cut from a workpiece in the vice 16 which short partsdo not extend from the vice beyond a distance X (FIG. 6) the height ofthe workpiece which can be cut is considerably greater than if the angleof the plane of the wheels 18 and 19 was rearwardly and upwardlyinclined as in conventional band saw machines. That is, the workpiececan extend above the bar 22 and still be cut by the blade as long as theend of the workpiece does not extend beyond the distance X.

The head 10 is pivoted about the axis C in a conventional manner. It isa unique feature of this machine, however, that the head (including theaxis C) is mounted for additional pivotal movement about the axis B. Thetwo extreme positions of angular movement are shown in solid (verticalcut) and phantom (horizontal cut) positions in FIG. 7. This enables theband saw to be used as shown in FIG. 1 for conventional vertical cutoffor to be moved to an upright position for making horizontal cuts. Inaddition, as best shown in FIG. 4 the head 10 can be pivoted about theaxis C into a vertical position as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 4 anda table T can be attached in a conventional way to convert the band sawmachine to a normal upright, vertical cutting plane saw customarilyfound in machine shops.

Pivoting of the cutting head about the axis C can be accomplishedmanually or by an hydraulic cylinder 30. Similarly, pivoting of thecutting head 10 about the axis B can be manually or by hydrauliccylinder 31. Pivoting about axis C can be controlled automatically ormanually by a pair of stops 32U and 32D. The stop 32D limits downwardtravel of the head to limit the depth of cut or limit the excessivetravel after a through-cut. Similarly, stop 32U will limit the upwardtravel when the band saw blade is being returned from a cut to reducetime to begin the next engagement with the workpiece. These stops can behydraulic valves for automatic operation or merely adjustable stops formanual operation.

A conventional-belt driven electric motor 33 drives the belt at avariable speed of from zero to 500 feet per minute.

BLADE GUIDES

The unique blade guides of this invention accommodate both standard oneinch wide blades and standard 3/8 of an inch blades. Customarily the 3/8inch blade will be used when the cutting head is rotated into thephantom line position of FIG. 4 and an attached workpiece supportingtable is added. This blade is then used in this condition for cuttingsmall or sharp angled cuts in a workpiece. To provide for the two bladesizes without the use of an adapter or the like each blade guide 24 isprovided with a recess 34 (FIG. 12) which houses a stationary plate 36and a floating plate 38. On each plate are four spaced carbide buttons37. The floating plate 38 is slidably mounted on a bolt 39 that isthreaded into the frame of the guide 24 and is pressed toward thestationary plate by a conventional belleville spring 41. As is bestshown in FIG. 13 the gap y between each set of buttons 37 is wide enoughto accommodate the passage of the teeth of the 3/8 inch wide blade. Whena one inch wide blade is used, all eight buttons are in engagement withthe side surfaces of the blade to guide it against lateral movement.When a 3/8 inch wide blade is used only the two innermost sets ofbuttons are used. In the case of both blades a carbide pad 40 runningthe length of the recess 37 provides backup pressure for the cuttingforce of the blade. The carbide pads are flushed during cutting in bothof the blade guides 24 by conventional coolant. For the leading bladeguide a conventional cutting coolant is used, whereas for the downstreamblade guide, a conventional wash coolant for chip removal is used. Thecarbide pads can be replaced individually or collectively for a fractionof the cost of larger side plates as is customarily employed. Thus,while increasing the versatility of the machine to accommodate two bladesizes the replacement cost of the carbide blade guides is alsosubstantially reduced.

WORKPIECE CLAMPING AND ADVANCING VICE

The workpiece clamping and advancing vice 16 includes a pair of clampingsurfaces 46 and 47 each having forward ends and rearward ends in thedirection of workpiece movement F. Surface 46 is on a movable memberwhich tracks on an elongated threaded screw 49 which is rotated eitherby powered means or a handle 51. Rotation of the handle causes theclamping surface 46 to travel toward or away from a stationary clampingsurface 47. In addition the screw is provided with a piston 48 whichpressurized fluid causes the screw to shift a limited distance to theright, as viewed in FIG. 9 to positively clamp the surfaces 46, 47against the workpiece to hold the workpiece during cutting. A spring 50restores the movable surface 46 to its expanded position when thepressure on the piston is relieved.

At the rearward ends of the clamping surfaces 46 and 47 are provided apair of rollers 52 and 53 each of which is adjustably pressed inwardlyof its respective clamping surface by springs 54 and 55. The rollers arefixed to sprockets 56 and 57 which are rotated by chain drives 58 and amotor 59. The chain drives cause the rollers to be rotatedsimultaneously in opposite directions to feed a workpiece past theclamping surfaces in the direction F. The sprocket 52 walks along thechain 58 when the clamping surface 46 is either adjusted for a roughadjustment by the handle 51 or for clamping adjustment by the piston 48.

To the rear of the feed rollers 52 and 53 is a supplemental workpiecesupporting mechanism which includes an upper rotatable roller 60, thatis, adjustably mounted to be placed on the top of the workpiece andclamped in that position by a cam lock 62. A lower supporting roller 64rotatably carries the bottom surface of the workpiece as it is passedthrough the vice. The lower roller 64 can be raised and held in place bya pair of detents 66 for carrying smaller depth workpieces higher in thevice. The detent holes 67 for the various positions are premeasured tocorrespond to holes 68 which accommodate spacer pins 70 shown in phantomin FIG. 1. Thus the workpiece will be held from above by roller 60 andsupported below by rotatable roller 64 and spacer pins 70 for smallersize pieces. Obviously, if the depth of the piece is sufficient thespacer pins are not employed.

Forward of the vice 16 is a workpiece end gauge or stop 72. The stop ismounted on a bracket 74 which can be rotated or moved laterally into thepath of the workpiece and held there by a cam clamp 76. Similarly, thedistance of the stop from the forward end of the vice is determined by asecond sliding clamp 78 that rides on a gauge bar 79 which haspremeasured scale marks. The stop is connected to a micro-switch 80which can automatically stop the motor 59 when the workpiece is advancedto the predetermined distance from the front of the vice. Thus forrepeatability of cutting several parts of the same size the gauge is setand the workpiece fed until it engages the stop and the motor 59 ishalted. Cutting then takes place and the machine can be automatically ormanually cycled to again advance the workpiece until it again hits thestop. The cycling of the machine can, of course, be done manually oncethe workpiece engages the stop.

It is another important feature of this invention that the vice 16pivots about a vertical axis 84. The axis is uniquely located justforward of the clamping surface 47 and is swung counterclockwise, asviewed in FIG. 8, so that both of the workpiece clamping surfaces 46 and47 are moved away from an interfering position with the cutting blade.The rotation is preferably capable of about 75° and can accommodateessentially all compound angular cuts. Cuts which cannot be made in thisposition can be accomplished by turning the workpiece over 180°.

OPERATION

The detailed operation of the machine is now readily apparent. For usein cutting numerous pieces of the same length from an elongatedworkpiece, the workpiece is held on a supplementary table, not shown andfed through the vice 16 being held adjacent to the vice by the rollers64 and 60. The driven rollers 52 and 53 feed the workpiece until itengages the gauge stop 72. At this time the feed rollers stop and thepiston 48 moves the clamping surfaces 46 and 47 together to tightly holdthe workpiece. The vice is preferably already positioned at its desiredangular orientation and the cutting head rotated about the axis C to thelimit of the stop 32D to make a cut. The blade is then pivoted backabout the axis C until it reaches the desired up position determined bythe stop 32U. Then the piece will have fallen free and the workpiece isagain advanced into engagement with the stop 72 and the cutting cyclecan be repeated. If the machine is to be used as a vertical cuttingblade it is merely moved into the position shown in phantom in FIG. 4.The blade guides 24 can be varied in their spacing and with theangularity of the plane of the guide wheels 18 and 19 being upwardly andforwardly of the vice it can be seen that for short workpiece parts thediameter of the part cut can be increased substantially over thediameter for long parts which would be interfered with by the bar 22. Inone example of the machine the normal cutoff diameter for long bars over10 inches is 91/2 inches in diameter but for parts less than 9 inchesthe cutting diameter is increased to 20 inches in diameter.

While variations in the invention will be obvious to one skilled in theart, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited tothe specific embodiments illustrated in the drawings.

I claim:
 1. A workpiece clamping and feeding apparatus comprising:a pair of opposed clamping surfaces having forward and rearward ends, means for initially moving the clamping surfaces relative to one another for rough positioning of the clamping surfaces, power driven feed means adjacent and coupled to the clamping surfaces for advancing and positioning the workpiece for cutting, and final clamping surfaces moving means for moving the clamping surfaces relative to one another into final clamping engagement with the workpiece, said feed means including at least two opposed rollers, each adjacent a respective clamping surface, means rotating at least one of said rollers for advancing the workpiece, means pressing the rollers toward one another and beyond the clamping surfaces for engaging the workpiece independently of the clamping surfaces to advance the workpiece, said means pressing the rollers being retractable when said clamping surfaces engage the workpiece.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, including opposed, supplementary workpiece support members adjustably positioned above and below the workpiece rearward of the rearward ends of the clamping surfaces in the direction of workpiece advance for holding the workpiece above and below as it is fed between said clamping surfaces.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, including means for pivotally moving said clamping surfaces together rearwardly about a pivot adjacent a forward end of one of said clamping surfaces for changing the angle of the workpiece, and wherein said roller rotating means rotates both of said rollers simultaneously and each roller is located adjacent the rearward end of each clamping surface.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, said means for advancing and positioning the workpiece for cutting including gauge means for terminating such advancing movement of the workpiece, said gauge means including a gauging stop which engages the advance end of the workpiece.
 5. A workpiece clamping and feeding apparatus comprising:a pair of opposed clamping surfaces having rearward ends, means for feeding work between said clamping surfaces to position the work, means for clamping the surfaces together when said work is positioned, and supplemental work holding means spaced rearwardly of said clamping surfaces in the direction of work feed and adjustable for engaging the work both from above and below to provide four-point holding of the work in combination with said clamping surfaces, said supplemental work holding means including a lower support bar and a vertically adjustable upper bar, said clamping surfaces positioned on either side of a horizontal work support platform, and including removable work support means positionable between said clamping surfaces to support the work above the platform, said lower support bar of said supplemental work holding means being vertically adjustable for supporting the work above said work support platform, said removable work support means being alignable with said rearward, vertically adjustable lower support bar for providing two spaced locations for supporting the work above said horizontal work support platform, and with said upper support bar holding said work from above.
 6. A workpiece clamping and feeding apparatus comprising:a pair of opposed clamping surfaces having forward and rearward ends, means for initially moving the clamping surfaces relative to one another for rough positioning of the clamping surfaces, power driven feed means adjacent the ends of the clamping surfaces for advancing the workpiece between the clamping surfaces, gauging means for limiting such advance movement of the workpiece for positioning the workpiece for cutting, and final clamping surfaces moving means for moving the clamping surfaces relative to one another into final clamping engagement with the workpiece, said feed means including a driven roller adjacent the rearward end of each clamping surface, means pressing the rollers toward one another and beyond the clamping surfaces for engaging the workpiece independently of the clamping surfaces to advance the workpiece, means for simultaneously rotating the rollers in opposite directions, said means pressing the rollers being retractable as said clamping surfaces engage the workpiece.
 7. A workpiece clamping and feeding apparatus comprising:a pair of opposed clamping surfaces having forward and rearward ends, means for initially moving the clamping surfaces relative to one another for rough positioning of the clamping surfaces, power driven feed means adjacent the ends of the clamping surfaces for advancing the workpiece between the clamping surfaces, gauging means for limiting such advance movement of the workpiece for positioning the workpiece for cutting, final clamping surfaces moving means for moving the clamping surfaces relative to one another into final clamping engagement with the workpiece, opposed supplementary workpiece support members adjustably positioned above and below the workpiece rearward of the rearward ends of the clamping surfaces for supporting the workpiece as it is fed between said clamping surfaces, and means for pivotally moving said clamping surfaces together rearwardly about a pivot adjacent a forward end of one of said clamping surfaces for changing the angle of the workpiece, and said feed means including a driven roller adjacent the rearward end of each clamping surface, means pressing the rollers toward one another and beyond the clamping surfaces for engaging the workpiece independently of the clamping surfaces to advance the workpiece, means for simultaneously rotating the rollers in opposite directions, said means pressing the rollers being retractable as said clamping surfaces engage the workpiece. 